Steam trap



G. W. COLLIN.

STEAM TRAP.

APPLICATlON FILED APR;28, I920.

Patented Mar. 28, 1922.

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STEAM TRAP.

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Specification of Letters latent.

Patented Mar. 2c, 1922.

Application filed April 28, 1920. Serial No. 377,204.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE l/V. COLLIN, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Bridgeport, in the county of Fairfield and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Steam Traps, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in steam-traps for installation in steam pipe lines, to receive and automatically discharge the condensed steam therefrom.

The invention particularly relates to thermostatically operated steam-traps, wherein the thermostat is arranged wholly within the the valve casing and thus directly exposed to the action of the varying steam' temperature, and whereby the varying temperature will automatically open and close the valve to relieve the trap from the water accumulated therein, produced by condensation.

The object of the present invention, is to provide a steam-trap which will include a thermostat and valve operatively connected so that the latter will be automatically operated by the former; to support the valve and thermostat upon a detachable part which is removably supported within a casing and which can be conveniently removed there from when desired and whereby the several operative parts of the thermostat may be readily gotten out for the purpose of cleaning or repairing, and further to include as a valve carrying member, a differential lever including opposed arms that contact with the thermostat at distant points so as to obtain increased leverage upon the valve for opening the same.

With these and other objects in View the invention resides and consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that, various changes in the form, proportion, size and minor details of construction within the scope of the claims may be resorted to without departure from the spiritor sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Similar characters of reference denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and upon which,

Fig. 1 is a central vertical sectional View through my improved form of steam-trap, shown connected to a steam pipe line, the valve being shown slightly raised from its seat.

Fig. 2 shows a central vertical sectional view of the removable closure plate and attached outlet connection, together with the theirmostat and valve lever mounted thereon, an

Fig. 3 shows a sectional plan view taken on line 3-3 of Fig. l, the free end portion of the thermostatic loop being omitted.

My improved steam-trap is designed so that the main body portion thereof may be permanently attached to a pipe line, and includes a chamber to which the steam and water from the pipe line are admitted for the operation of the thermostat and valve connected therewith. The chamber in the body is provided with a removable closure plate upon which the entire interior mechanism is mounted and by means of which the said mechanism may be removed in a very simple manner thus avoiding the inconvenience of getting at the parts while in the casmg.

Referring in detail to the characters of reference marked upon the drawings, 5 represents a steam pipe which may be a short extension of a main pipe line, not shown, and through which the steam is admitted to the chamber 6 of the tubular casing 7. The lower peripheral edge portion of this casing is threaded to receive the holding flange of the nut 8, which serves to engage and clamp the annular edge portion 9 of the closure plate 10 in position against the lower annular end portion of the casing. The closure plate includes a hub having a threaded hole therein to receive the outlet coupling 11 to which a waste pipe 12 may be attached. The locking nut 13 mounted upon the threaded surface of the coupling 11 serves to securely hold it in position. 7

The upper end of the port 14 of this outlet connection forms a valve seat which is normally closed by the ball valve 15 mounted on the short arm 16 of the differential lever 17. This lever is hung upon a pivot 18 secured between the flanges 19 of the post 20 formed on the closure plate, and is provided with two arms that are disposed substantially parallel with both the outlet port and the operative end portion of the thermostat. The short end of the lever includes a right angle extension in which is positioned an adjustable contact screw 91 for engagement with the extreme end portion of the thermostat 22. The end 23 of the lever is disposed upward on the opposite side of the end portion of the thermostat from that of the extension 16 and is also provided with an adjustable contact screw 24 which engages the opposite side of the thermostat from that enga 'ed by the before mentioned screw 21.

The thermostat 22 is of a loop formation and has its fixed end secured to the before mentioned post 20 so that an eti'ertive movement of the free end of the thermostat is obtained against the contact points 21 and 24. The contractive action of the thermostat obviously operates upon the long lever, through its engagement with the contacting screw 2%, in a way to form a greater leverage than it would if engaged closer to the pivoted point 18, better to move the ball valve from its seat, thus making the valve more sensitive to slight variations in temperature and therefore more readily operated.

The normal position of the thermostat when the trap is not in service, is to hold the valve open, and when steam enters the chamber its temperature expands the thermo loop so that its free end will engage the contact screw 21, carrying the short arm over and' seating the valve. In this connection it will also be understood that the coupling iii hearing the valve seat may be adpisted with respeet to the closed position or" the valve after the trap has been installed and while the service pressure is in the chamber. fv ith the valve closed, thecondensation "from the steam accumulates inthe chamber and when it becomes of sufficient quantity its lowertemperature will affect the thermo-loop, contract the same so that its free end will be drawn in and its side portion engage with the contact screw 24L which is positioned in the long arm oi the lever in a way to obtain a greater leverage upon the valve arm, thus providing initial force su'fl'icient to overcome the resistance of the pressure on the valve. The further operation of the thermostat, after the valve has been moved from its seat, serves to engage its lower end portion 25 with the portion :26 of the lever, near its pivotal point, in a way to more rapidly operate the same, and swing the valve entirely away from its seat.

From the foregoing it, will be seen that aside from the desirable operative qualities or the thermostat and the valve lever, the device is also made especially attractive by reason of the fact that all of the said parts 7 can readily be drawn out by simply first removing the flanged nut which permits the closure'plate and parts mounted thereon to be withdrawn.

7 Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. A steam-trap, including a chamber, a thermo-loop one end of which is secured within the chamber and the other end of which is free therein, a valve lever including opposed arms intermediate of which the free end of the thermo-loop is positioned, one of said arms contacting with the said free end portion of the thermostat farther from the pivotal point of the lever'than the other.

2. A. steam-trap, including a body having a chamber therein and an outlet port, a valve lever pivotedly mounted in the chamber and including a long and a short arm, a thermoloop mounted in the chamber and having its operative end disposed between the two said arms to engage one farther from its pivotal point than the other, and a valve mounted on the short arm to close the outlet port.

3: A steam-trap, including a body having a chamber therein and an outlet port, a valve lever pivotedly mounted in the chamber and including a long and a short arm, a thermoloop mounted in the chamber and having its operative end disposed between the two said arms'and adapted to make a single engagement with one arm for closing the valve and to form a dual engagement with the other arm in the operation of opening the valve, and a valve mounted on the short arm to close the outlet port.

4;. 2r steamrap, including a body having a chamber therein, and an outlet port, a valve lever pivotedly mounted in the chamber and including two arms disposed parallel with the outlet port, a thermo-loop mounted in the chamber and having its operative end also disposed parallel with the two said arms to engage the same, and a valve mounted on the lever to close the outlet port.

5. In a steam trap, a casing, a closure plate removably attached to one side thereof, a valve operatively mounted upon the" plate, a couplingincluding an outlet port forming a valve seat mounted in the plate, and a thermo-loop secured to the plate and connected with the valve for operating the same.

Signed at Bridgeport, in the county of Fair-field and State of Connecticut, this 26th day of April, A. D. 1920.

V GEORGE W. COLL-IN. Witnesses: v

- C. M; NEWMAN, V

LILLIAN M. ALLING; 

